Herald of Steel

To accomplish his goals, the battle-crazed Laykash threw all caution to the wind, leaving the two men beside him to fend for themselves, in addition to ordering them to also protect him as he only concentrated on hacking off his prize.

So the two men had to basically fight two men at once, while Laykash tried to complete his goal.

And in the process of trying to accomplish that endeavor, Laykash certainly sustained some injuries from the enemy side, as they would never just let allow him to be so reckless and not any price.

Hence stabs and thrusts from many sides began to pepper him.

But still, Laykash continued to keep his desperate attack for as long as his body permitted, using his innate skill as a warrior, and the much better armor he was wearing, made of the finest chainmail and gambeson, to withstand the enemy attacks, barely managing to turn many potential mortal injuries into flesh wounds, and light stabs.

But even then his armor slowly started to become dyed with blood.

Yet he still persevered.

Because he knew that they were losing, and killing the king was their best chance at turning the tide of the battle in their favor.

And then suddenly it happened.

Finally!

His relentless attack on the enemy at last bore fruit, as if the gods seemed to respond to his unyielding spirit and determination to not lose.

Among the many fierce exchanges, there rose one particular fateful exchange, where after skillfully parrying one of Leosydas’s spear thrusts, Laykash was presented with a tiny window to his opponent’s right flank as Leosydas’s right arm was redirected into the air in the parry and was yet to come down.

And Laykash instantly clutched that opportunity with both his hands.

*Bang*

Hence bringing his large sword horizontally, as swift as lightning, he gave a solid sword strike squarely to his opponent’s ribs, with the hit even producing a loud, crisp bang in the process, as the hardened steel blade hit the bronze cuirass.

*Neigh*

*Thud*

And this strike was instantly followed by the scared bleat of Leosydas’s horse, and then a dull muffled thud, as the man, without the presence of any stirrups, simply fell off his horse from the sheer force of the strike, just like his king had some time ago.

“Arghhh..” And then he could be heard groaning in pain, as he felt that several of his ribs had surely cracked, if only fully snapped in two.

Hence after falling, Leosydas began to writhe in pain on the ground, while he clasped the wounded area.

An area from which shortly after copious amounts of blood could be seen beginning to flow out, dying the right side of his golden armor red, courtesy of the hole the sword had made.

While atop his horse Laykashseeing this actually cursed instead of crying out in joy, as the veteran commander had clearly felt that though his high-quality sword had smashed open the bronze armor, torn through the linen thorax, cut open the flesh, and dug deep into it, but the steel blade had been ultimately repulsed by the solid ribcage.

Meaning he had failed to puncture the lungs.

Meaning Leosydas was unlikely to die from his wounds alone.

Meaning if he would get proper treatment, and his wounds could be closed before they turned infectious, this enemy of Zanzan would be surely back for round two.

And this realization made Laykash somewhat astounded at the man’s luck, as the sword he used was made from possibly the best steel and manufacturing technique in the world, and in any other time, should have cleaved him clean through like a hot knife through butter.

So it was truly fortuitous that the man was not only still alive but even conscious, able to make painful groans.

Perhaps Laykash’s strike was a bit weak or hit the man at an angle, or just that the armor he wore was especially well made.

But whatever the reason was, Laykash felt the man might have used up all the good luck in his life today.

And then quickly bringing himself back from the slight shock, Laykash thought that since the man had used up all his luck, it was time to give him a second strike and send him off, finishing the man off for good.

So raising his longsword high into the air, Laykash took aim at the man’s neck, intending to behead the ‘king’ and parade his head around.

And to help him accomplish that, he very much thanked his specially made sword which had a much longer reach than the shorter infantry sword that was meant for getting close and thrusting, meaning that he could hit an opponent laying on the ground even when he was sitting atop his horse.

“Die!” Seeing his prize so close and vulnerable, Laykash let out a demented cry of joy as he bought down his sword towards Leosydas’s sword, very much anticipating that sweet feeling of hard steel cutting across soft flesh.

*Clank*!

But alas!

He missed.

Even from such a close distance.

Or more accurately he was blocked.

This happened because when Leosydas had spotted the glint of the steel snaking its way to reap his life, in clear evidence of his martial prowess, even in his half-delirious state. the man did not try to dodge the incoming strike as any normal human would but had the shrewd state of mind to instead angled his bronze helmet towards it, intending to take the full force of the strike head-on, literally.

And the result was that when the powerful hit from such a heavy weapon, weighing itself more than a kilogram, made contact, the man felt like his head had been hit with an actual brick, and he began to see stars, as he lost consciousness then and there.

Additionally, blood began to foam out of his mouth as he had subconsciously clenched his teeth during the attack, meaning many of his teeth were broken or got knocked out, turning his chin blood red.

And soon, his face began to match that color, as the strike had cut his skin even through the helmet, only failing to smash his skull in two, though it did manage to crack it.

But for all the terrible injuries, and copious amount of blood loss, the man was still alive!

And seeing this Laykash was speechless.

He had been in numerous wars in the close to a decade he served in the military, and the number of warriors he had met that was as skilled as the man in front of him could be counted on one hand.

Laykash finally understood that the man surviving his last attack was likely not purely out of luck.

And this realization made him want to kill the man even more, as letting such a dangerous opponent escape when he was so close to dying was the epitome of foolishness.

If he was allowed to come back, no doubt Zanzan and its lands would suffer.

And so Laykash raised his sword for a third time.

But how can it be that easy?

Because seeing their ‘king’ fall off his horse again, all the bodyguards and nobles immediately started to gravitate toward him, trying to again protect him as they had done before, while they shouted out alarmed cries.

“Your Majesty!”

“My king!”

“Your Highness!”

“Leo!”

With the last one was of course shouted out by Perseus who was in the back.

And all the men had stunned and fearful expressions on their faces because Leosydas really did not look good.

While Laykash atop his horse again swung his sword to try and clear the crowd, but this time,

*Neigh*,

Leosydas’s horse got in the way, the trained mount protecting its long-time master even at the cost of suffering a large wound across its neck and shoulder.

And with the amount of blood it then began to spray out, it was unlikely the beast would be able to live.

But it had done its job.

The loyal steed had saved its master’s life for one more time.

“Fuck!”

While Laykash felt a maddening frustration like he had never felt before.

He could not believe he missed his chance, not once, not twice, but three times in a row.

Four if you counted the initial one.

And so then the battle-crazed man crazily swore, ‘I will kill that man even if I have to die!’ as he then dismounted from his horse, and shouted,

“Men! With me!”

“I will grab that bastard by the neck and slaughter him by myself.”

Laykash felt that the range from the horse was too big and that gave the men time to dodge.

So he decided he would go up close and personal, even if it meant facing all the men surrounding him or the enemy riders around.

And hearing their commander’s order, three men joined him, and soon

*Clank*,

Laykash was stopped by a bulky noble who struck him with his sword, one which Laykash parried with one hand while taking his dagger out from the side using the other, before stabbing the poor man in the neck. 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑙．𝑐𝘰𝘮

And then as he stepped forward, he saw two of his men were also being engaged, with the third one already dead, all while Leosydas’s body was starting to be moved.

If Laykash wanted to do something, he had to do it quickly.

Or else the prize would slip through his finger just like that.

And so the mad lad did just that, employing as crazy a plan as he did with Amenheraft.